Costly Assumptions in Medical Transactions

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Sales representatives of medical appliances are busy
individuals. For this reason, they approach things with levity
hands which makes majority of them to assume a lot of things that
is detrimental to the industry thereby losing a lot of sales in the
process. One of those costly mistakes they make is assuming to have
the full knowledge of what their customers want or carrying the
notion that their clients understands your
intents.

Indefinite communications cost money, time, and sometimes lives
of the people involved in healthcare. It is very important for
sales experts in the healthcare to scrutinise every single
communication for precision whether between them and clients or
from their superiors or associates.

There is nothing worse than for a sales agent to misunderstand
what a customer order delivering something different entirely to
the customer. When such mistakes are made, the first thing you hear
from such a rep is, “I assumed…” Instead for
him/her to make some clarification and confirmation before making
the delivery.

For instance, during my training is medical sales, I was
opportune to work with a lot of orthopaedics as well as vertebral
column firms. When there is call from the office of a surgeon for a
scheduled surgery on a patient, it is expected of the medical sales
agent to make the delivery of all the necessary tools and implants
needed for that operation at the hospital ahead of the
time.

On such occasions, the request of the surgeon is normally a
straightforward one, “Dr Silas require a pair of 60g boxes of
ABC Bone Graft Matrix on January 26th.” But on other
occasions, the request might not be that simple even if it look too
simple. Take a look at this; “Dr Silas is performing a
revision complete hip replacement and he needs your revision hip
system.”

Revision hip systems typically are very complicated because of
the numerous options available. In this kind of situation, there
are three possible approaches the rep can employ to this
request;

First, “I understand what the specialist wants.”

Secondly, “I’ll come with everything I
got.” Or “I’ll bring all the kit and caboodle we
have.”

Thirdly, “I’ll give the surgeon a call to know
exactly what he needs.”

As reasonable as any of this option is, each of them has
possibility of miscommunications which cannot only lead to
irritation but can as well be catastrophic.

For example, you may have known what the surgeon needed all the
other times he used your system. But for whatever reason,
this time, there was an unexpected surprise that your set
couldn’t address. It might have been the
surgeon’s oversight, but in his mind, you let it happen
because you didn’t prepare adequately in advance and
communicate any limitations.

Even when reps take the time to review x-rays and discuss the
exact plan with a surgeon, there can be misunderstandings and
unstated expectations. One example is when a bone fractures
during the revision surgery and the surgeon asks for a cable plate
to fix the fracture and the rep didn’t bring it. The
rep’s defense is, “You didn’t request
it.” The surgeon’s defense is, “You should
know what I need.”

When it comes to clear communications in any situation selling
to healthcare, I suggest you do two things:

Define exactly what the customer’s expectations are
and…

Document it!

Today, reps have multiple ways of communicating with
customers. When a customer makes a request, specifically
state how you will handle that request. Confirm whether or
not it is acceptable to the customer. Then put it in
writing.

For a situation such as the one I described above, where a
customer is requesting something for patient care, list out, in
writing, exactly what you will be delivering and when. Ask
for confirmation in a written form via email, fax, or any other
method that records and documents it.

Even when a customer just wants an answer to a question that you
need to research, let the customer know the information that
you’re going to get back to her with, and by what date and
time. Record it in your scheduling device so you don’t
forget.

If you’re going to make an assumption, assume what the
French military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte assumed: If a message
can be misunderstood, it will be. To mitigate this, Napoleon
kept an idiot in his camp. The idiot’s only job was to
read every one of Napoleon’s communications before it was
sent. If the idiot understood the message as Napoleon
intended it, the message was sent. If not, Napoleon rewrote
the message to make it simpler.

When you sell in healthcare, you’re not dealing with
idiots, but you are dealing with busy professionals who assume you
know what they want. Your job as a professional is to clarify
those assumptions and get confirmation. This way, no one can
blame you for any omissions or misunderstandings. Should they
try, you’ll have the documentation to back it up your claim
that you did your job professionally and responsibly.